A Year's Vacation
by RynUhara
Summary: It had been six years since the gang had parted. Six years since Serena had now been united with her father and his family. Now age 21, Serena and our other heroes are out on a new journey. Little do they know that the journey will allow them to be reunited once again. (Amourshipping)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

As the sunlight started to stir her from her slumber, Serena's blue eyes fluttered open to focus on the blank ceiling of her bedroom. It had been a week since she had come home and decided to spend time with her mother while she decided what she was going to do for the next year while she took a break from performing.

A lot had happened within the last six years, including a five-year reign as Kalos Queen, which she retired the title once she turned twenty due to the unfairness it had become to newcomers that desired to obtain the crown that she held. Now twenty-one, Serena had been on tour with other talented performers such as Aria and other former Queens, she had decided to take a break to spend time with her family and Pokemon.

"Syl?" Serena's sylveon had looked up from the end of the bed it was sleeping on as Serena sat up.

"Good morning, Sylveon." Serena smiled and scratched the Pokemon on the back of its head.

"Veon." It sighed in happiness, pushing her head up into Serena's palm.

Serena looked around her room to see which Pokemon were still asleep. She wasn't surprised when she saw Pancham snoozing away next to her with the small Alolan Vulpix she had caught a few months ago while touring the Alola Region. Pancham thought of the little fox as a baby, and was insistent on always taking care of it until it got used to traveling with Serena and her team.

The young performer stretched her arms and got out of bed. She wasn't worried when she didn't see the other three of her Pokemon. She figured that Delphox was probably helping her mother, judging by the smell of the food wafting through the small house. Espeon was probably sunbathing in the morning sun, while Absol sat nearby making sure that she didn't stray off from the front yard being the protector of the team that he was. Sylveon followed Serena out of her room and bounded ahead of her down the stairs while her trainer went the opposite way into the bathroom.

She splashed water on her face to wake herself up even more and brushed out her short hair. After doing her business in the bathroom, Serena joined her mother and Pokemon on the first floor as breakfast finished cooking.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Grace smiled up at her daughter as Delphox extinguished the flame on her stick that had been under one of the skillets. "I was afraid I was going to have to send Fletchling to wake you up like I did when you were younger."

Serena giggled at the thought. "Yeah, mom. I told you that I know how to wake up on my own now."

She walked over to the cabinets and grabbed the bowls for the Pokemon and set them on the floor before filling them with the food she had made the night before. Once set up, the performer whistled loud enough for all of her companions to hear, and soon they had all scurried into the kitchen excited to see the mountains of food waiting for them.

"You know, one of these days when you have children, I won't be surprised if you have them trained as well as you do your Pokemon." Grace joked as the two of them sat down to eat their own food.

"I don't know, mom." Serena laughed. "That's going to be a long time from now. Besides, I think children are a lot more difficult than these guys. Dad's always telling me how he'd rather spend time teaching the eevee new skills than dealing with Sophia and Sarah's punishment when they do wrong."

One of the things that Serena had gotten used to over the last six years was having her father around. He was shocked when he saw the performance Serena gave when she was in the Master Class finals. His heart was already filled with regret not being apart of her life for so long, but he felt that he could bridge the connection if Grace agreed to let him meet her.

Her father, Sam, was a fairly shy man. He was scared off when Grace had told him she was expecting. He was just shy of twenty, and his fear of children outweighed his desire to be with Grace when she had the child. For that, he was so sorry. When he got older, he had gotten over the fear of family and settled down. He had always felt ashamed and couldn't bring himself to meet with Grace and his unknown daughter when he knew that Serena would question why he'd rather care for his other family than her.

Serena understood, though. She couldn't say she would have done the same as Sam if she was in his shoes, but she understood the fear of failure. She forgave him, and eventually started meeting with him every other month at a cafe until she was ready to meet his wife and other children.

"Are you still planning on going to visit them today?" Grace asked as she took a bite of her food.

"Yeah." Serena nodded. "I haven't seen them in a while, and Dad says that Sophia has been rebelling and is hoping that I can talk some sense into her."

"Their mother won't let them go on their own journeys, right?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, she's afraid that they aren't ready. Sarah would rather stay, but Sophia is determined to not be an eevee breeder her whole life."

"Sounds like someone that didn't want to become a rhyhorn racer." Grace smirked across the table over to Serena, who just laughed in response.

"Yeah, but I didn't have such a strict mother who tried to keep me at home for as long as she could."

"How old are the girls now?" Grace asked out of curiosity. "Surely, they're old enough to be independent trainers by now."

"Sophia is fourteen, Sarah is almost thirteen."

"No wonder your father is so afraid of them." Grace giggled. "Sam has always been uncomfortable with aggressive people, and the early teen years are always the worst when it comes to raising girls."

Serena looked at her mother, hurt by her comment. "I wasn't that bad."

"Mostly because you were so stuck on Ash." Grace teased, causing Serena's face to turn light pink.

"That is not true! We didn't even meet up with each other again until I was fifteen! How does that make my early teen years stuck on him?"

"Be honest with yourself." Grace took another bite of rice. "When you started to become sexually mature, you know where your mind went."

Serena covered her face and groaned. Ever since the journey with Ash, her mom constantly teased her more than usual. She always tried to get Serena to call him or make some sort of contact with him, but the performer refused because she knew that they were both too busy to even try to keep in touch.

Once the two women finished their breakfast, Serena returned to her room and finished packing her backpack to go on to her father's eevee farm.

It was fitting that was the Pokemon he and his wife chose to raise. Her father reminded her of an eevee in so many ways. He was shy like Sylveon was when she first appeared that day in the forest. He was also multi-talented in different areas of training. He could understand any Pokemon from fire types to ice types. Eevee were always the common wanted Pokemon for many trainers, so he and his wife came up with the concept of an eevee farm where any of the Pokemon they bred could choose their own trainer that fit their personality. It was a lot gentler than someone attacking the poor Pokemon at random. It even attracted many wild eevee to join the others on the farm.

Serena smiled down to Espeon when she felt her rub against the back of her legs. She was the peace offering her father let her have when she first visited the eevee sanctuary. This one was small and spunky, and liked to boss the other eevees around. She and Serena even went at it a few times when the Pokemon would attack Sylveon for not falling in line like the other eeveelutions on the farm did. Eventually, the small Eevee warmed up to the trainer and agreed to join them on the road in performances. Once their relationship grew, she evolved into Espeon and stole the show along with Sylveon, earning their first Master Class win together.

Serena knelt down to pet Espeon. "You ready to go home and visit all of your old friends?"

"Eon~" It cooed back in happiness.

A few hours later, Serena had recalled all of her Pokemon into their pokeballs and was ready to head out on the road.

"You made sure you got everything, right?" Grace asked as they said their goodbyes from the front yard.

"Yes, mom. I've done this more than once, you know." Serena giggled. "I'll be fine. Dad's farm isn't that far. I should be there by dinner time."

"You'll call once you've arrived, won't you?"

"Of course." Serena hugged her mom tight and turned to go on her way.

* * *

"Mom, please!" A young girl with dark red hair and blazing blue eyes was outside of their home, arguing yet again. "All of my friends have all left for their own journeys! It's not fair!"

"For the last time, Sophia, your father and I are not comfortable with you traveling on your own!" A woman in her late thirties stood with her hands on her hips, the breeze causing her own red hair to fly about. Her brown eyes never gave in to her daughter's pleas.

"Dad doesn't care!" The girl argued back. "He only says no because you refuse to admit that I'm growing up!"

"Oh really? You're growing up? You call arguing with your mother when she says no 'growing up'?"

"Ugh!" Sophia threw her hands up in the air. "You guys are so unfair!"

Serena stood by the gate of the house, awkwardly waiting for her stepmother and sister to stop their quarreling.

The red-headed woman looked up and saw the young performer waiting at the gate. "Oh, Serena, you're here!" She smiled warmly, then looked embarrassed. "How much of that did you see?"

"Don't worry about it, Mira." Serena reassured her as she opened the gate. "Dad warned me about everything when we talked a few days ago."

The two women gave each other a side hug once Serena got to the porch her stepmother was standing on.

"Where's Dad?"

"Where he always is when Sophia is in one of her moods." Mira sighed. "He's out in the egg house, taking care of the Pokemon eggs we found a few days ago."

"Okay. Do you mind if I let my Pokemon out and leave my bags inside?"

"Not at all." Mira nodded and stood aside to allow Serena to come in and take care of her business.

Once the Pokemon were settled, she and her Espeon went to where the eevee eggs were being held, and found her father exactly where her stepmom said he would be.

"Come on, Uly. I told you to be careful around the eggs." The tall man sighed down at his accompanying Umbreon, who was looking back at him completely unamused.

"Dad?" Serena quietly called to him when he didn't notice her and her Pokemon come in.

"Serena?" Sam turned around and grinned when he saw his daughter. He had the same honey hair and kind blue eyes as his daughter. Years of training had allowed him to be fit, and his ratty clothes showed how dedicated to his work that he was. "You finally made it!"

He came forward and hugged his daughter, who gladly embraced him back. Even though she hated how dirty she knew her clothes were going to be when they let go, she was happy to see her dad.

"And hello there, Espy." Sam greeted the Pokemon at Serena's side with a generous head scratch, to which the Pokemon happily accepted with a squeal of delight.

"Mira told me to tell you that dinner will be ready soon."

"Perfect." Sam smiled, as he turned to grab his egg care kit. "Uly, why don't you go on and take Espy to see all of the others?"

The Umbreon rolled its eyes and motioned for Espeon to follow it.

Sam shook his head as he and Serena left the building and locked it behind them.

"Uly seems really annoyed with you dad." Serena observed.

"He's just mad that I won't let him keep guard of his and Flora's egg. He doesn't like that it is in the house with the others."

"Oh! They made an egg together?" Serena's eyes lit up. "I never thought those two would of all the Pokemon here."

"It was a surprise to us, too." Sam chuckled. "A dark and grass type make the most unlikely pair."

"So, you said that you already saw Mira. Have you seen your sisters?"

"Sophia locked herself in her room when I first got here. I haven't seen Sarah anywhere, though." Serena answered.

"Why don't you go get her and tell her it's time for dinner. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what she's doing right now." Sam smiled.

"What has she been up to?" Serena gave her father a puzzled look.

"Oh, just go on out to the riverside. You'll see what I mean."

Sam went on ahead to the house, leaving Serena very confused. She slowly turned and walked toward the clearing where she could see the form of a few Pokemon and what looked to be a trainer standing in the middle of them.

"Okay, Blitz, use icy wind while Sylver uses fairy wind." The young trainer pointed at the two Pokemon, which jumped up and responded to her calls. "Now Joule! Use thunder wave!"

The three attacks mixing together were clumsy, but had potential. Once they cleared, the three Pokemon and trainer bowed to the five other Pokemon that had been watching, who all cheered in response.

Serena clapped in delight, startling the trainer and Pokemon.

"Wow, Sarah! With a little work, you'd be fantastic in showcases."

"S-Serena?" The young trainer's face turned pink with embarrassment. "How long have you been watching?"

"Not very long. Dad sent me to come and get you for dinner. He said I'd be surprised, and I am."

Sarah couldn't make eye contact with her older sister. She was painfully shy like their father, and being in front of her biggest role model was always intimidating. It didn't matter that they were related.

Serena saw a lot of herself in her younger sister. Even their looks were quite similar. From their honey hair to the blue eyes they both inherited from their father, it was evident that they were sisters, all right. Serena even related to her when it came to her uncertainty of performing in front of other people. She remembered how scared she was when she stared performing, especially at the thought of Aria possibly watching her.

"So, why did you decide to come here? Aren't you going to go on a big vacation?" Sarah asked as they made their way back to the house with the other Pokemon in tow.

"I haven't decided what I want to do, yet. A year is a while, but at the same time I know it's going to fly by and I'll be back on the road with the others again."

Once they made it near the house where all of the other Pokemon were playing, Sarah waved for the others to go on ahead and join them.

"You've trained them really well. Why haven't you asked about performing in showcases yet?"

"Well... Soph has really been pushing Mom and Dad lately. I don't wanna bother them with my ideas because I know they'll say I'm not ready, too. I agree, though, because me and my team have a lot to learn before we're ready to really perform." Sarah admitted.

Serena patted the young girl on her back. "I'm sure you'll be a great performer after what I saw. Your Glaceon was really into that performance you gave too. The others will follow suit when you get comfortable with yourself. You've got this!"

Sarah's eyes lit up. "Do you really honestly think so, Serena? I've been trying so hard to get them to learn that moves aren't just for attacking like Sophia has been yelling at them about."

"You're their trainer, Sarah. They'll go along with whatever you dream up."

* * *

Once dinner was finished, Sophia and Sarah had excused themselves to their rooms, leaving Serena alone with Mira and her father.

"So, have you decided on where you're going to go on your vacation?" Mira asked.

"About that." Serena took a sip of her tea and put it back down on the table. "I've been thinking since me and Dad talked a few days ago."

"What about?" Sam raised his eyebrows.

"What would you two think about me taking Sophia and Sarah along with me to travel around Kalos?"

The couple stared in shock at Serena's offer. She was one of the highest paid performers in the region, and yet she was offering to take a couple of teenagers out on a Pokemon adventure? Maybe they weren't hearing right.

"Serena, just because Sophia has been throwing tantrums on going out on her own, doesn't mean you should take time out of your vacation to please her." Mira responded.

"I'm not doing it because she's been begging." Serena insisted. "I'm doing it because I know what she's going through. She's about the same age I was when I decided that rhyhorn racing wasn't something I had a passion for. Sophia doesn't seem like the type to want to be raising eevee for the rest of her life."

"She really isn't." Sam sighed in agreement.

"I don't know..." Mira looked away, unsure of the proposal her stepdaughter was offering to them. "What do you think, dear?"

"I think it's a great opportunity for them to get to know Serena." Sam scratched the back of his head. "Sarah really wants to learn to perform as well, so maybe being around their sister isn't such a bad idea. Plus, she's a responsible adult. You don't have to worry about Sophia getting in any kind of trouble. That's been your fear for not letting her leave, isn't it?"

Mira sighed and nodded. "I guess there's no harm in it... If you're sure this is what you really would like to do."

Serena gave a reassuring smile. "I'm positive."

And so the journey began...

* * *

Meanwhile, in Pallet town, Ash Ketchum was saying his own goodbyes to his mother. It had been six years since the last time he was in Kalos, and he felt that after this last adventure he went on, he wanted to go back and see his Kalosian friends. He had heard of their successes on his journies and yearned to see them again.

This time, however, he decided to take a full team of Pokemon along... Also with a friend.

"You ready, Ashy boy?" The excited shouts of Gary Oak was heard from the pier as he approached. "I ain't getting any younger, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, Gary." Ash rolled his eyes. Gary had never seen the Kalos region before and begged for Ash to let him come along. He was determined to be his grandfather's successor when the time came, and in order to do that, he needed to see and learn about as many Pokemon as possible.

"So where are we going first when we get to Kalos?"

"I was thinking that Lumiose City would be the best choice. I have a friend who is a gym leader there, and I'd love to meet up with him and his sister."

"Sister, huh?" Gary nudged Ash's arm. "So is she the one who kissed you before you left?"

"Wh-what?!" Ash's face turned red. "No!"

Ash brought his hand to his lips. It wasn't Bonnie, but someone else that he hadn't seen since that time...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Serena and her sisters had been walking for a while now. It had been a couple of days since Serena offered to take on the task of guiding the two young teens, and she now found herself in awkward silence. The three of them had never been together for so long before.

"So... Sophia..." Serena began to break the silence. "Have you decided what you want to do yet?"

"What I want to do?" The red head looked up at her sister, puzzled by her question.

"Yeah. Like, I'm going to teach Sarah how to compete in showcases. Have you decided what you want to do with your Pokemon?"

"Well since I only brought my Umbreon along, I just assumed that you were going to let me go and catch new Pokemon on my own."

Serena sighed and shook her head. Her sister obviously had not thought things through.

"Why don't I bring you to Professor Sycamore's lab? He gives out starter Pokemon to those starting out on their journeys." Serena suggested. "There's many things you can do with a solid team on your side. I had many friends on my journey that competed in the Kalos League."

Serena tried to steer her sister in the right, more proactive, direction. Something that she knew would be worth the year-long trip together.

Sophia perked up at the mention of the Kalos League. "You mean... Girls can compete too?"

"Well, yeah." Serena scoffed. "It's more popular for boys, but girls are just as capable."

"Then off to this Sycamore guy's lab we go!" Sophia shouted, picking up her pace.

"Soph! Wait up!" Sarah whined, trying to keep up.

"You two don't even know where you're going!" Serena yelled, following close behind the two.

This was surely going to be an eventful year to say the least.

(Break here)

The plane finally touched down into Lumiose City. Between the boat and the plane, both Ash and Gary had enough of being cooped up in small spaces.

"Woah, you weren't kidding when you said the city looked awesome at night." Gary remarked, seeing the lights of Lumiose Tower.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Ash beamed, taking in the familiar surroundings. Pikachu squealed in excitement of the city's scent. "It's been so long. I can't wait to see everyone."

"By everyone, do you mean _her_?" Gary nudged his friend's shoulder.

"Will you stop that?" Ash's face became red, causing laughter to erupt from Gary's mouth. "Besides... I'm sure she's a busy person."

"Aww, don't give me that look, Ashy boy." Gary pat his back in reassurance. "We're gonna be here for a while, so I'm sure you'll get to see all of the people you want."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ash nodded. "So, what do you wanna do first?"

"How 'bout we get a bite, then we have a battle? I need some fresh air and blood pumping through my veins after all of that traveling."

Ash's eyes lit up at his friend's suggestion. "Yeah, that's a great idea. You're on!"

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu pumped his little paw in the same manner as his trainer.

"Glad you agree, because loser has to pay for the hotel tonight."

"Then I'm definitely not going to lose!"

The two trainers made their way into the city, officially starting their journey on Kalosian soil.

* * *

"But it can't be closed already! We worked so hard to get here!" Sophia whined at the locked entrance of Professor Sycamore's lab.

"Relax, Soph. We can always come back in the morning." Sarah tried to calm her sister down.

"But I really want a new Pokemon." Sophia sulked and sat on the steps of the entryway. "What now, Serena? You know this place better than we do."

"Well, like Sarah said, we could just come back tomorrow when they open the lab back up. Why don't we go find a hotel, then get something to eat?"

Sophia slowly stood up, but started to fall from being startled after the door suddenly opened behind her. A hand reached out and grabbed her wrist before her face met the steps in front of her.

"I thought I heard someone out here."

Serena's face lit up at the sight of one of her dear friends. "Alain!"

"Oh, hey Serena." Alain greeted as he let Sophia's hand go when she steadied herself. "What are you doing here?"

"Is it okay if we come in?"

They soon found themselves in Professor Sycamore's office in his sitting area with steaming cups of tea and snacks.

"So, the professor is gone out on field research?"

"Yeah, he left me in charge so he could go out and test some soil samples." Alain explained. "What brings you three here?"

"Oh, right." Sarena remembered that she hadn't introduced her company. "These are my younger sisters, Sarah and Sophia. They're new trainers just starting out on their Pokemon journeys."

"So, I take it that you wanted to bring them to choose their starter Pokemon?" Alain asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, but since the professor is gone, I probably can't have one yet." Sophia sighed.

"Of course you can." Alain laughed. "He left me in charge for a reason. This is a popular season for new trainers to come by."

"Really?" Sarah asked.

Alain nodded. "Why don't you three come with me?"

The raven haired researcher led the three girls through a door adjacent from the office. There was a miniature Pokemon habitat where many different kind of Pokemon were playing.

Alain gave a high pitched whistle, and a few Pokemon came in response.

"Alright, you guys. I know it's kind of later than normal, but we have a couple of trainers here looking for a partner." Alain explained.

The three Pokemon squealed in excitement.

"Okay, now all you need to do is decide who you'd like to take on your adventure." Alain stepped back, which Sophia eagerly stepped forward.

"Let's see, your final evolution is Delphox, like what Serena has. You turn into that big guy... What's his name?"

"Chesnaught." Alain answered.

"Right, that one." Sophia nodded, deep in thought. Then her eyes met that of a froakie. "You... You evolve into Greninja."

"Fro?" The frog-like Pokemon tilted its head at the girl.

The two kept eye contact for a good moment, until Sophia quickly picked it up and brought it closer to her face.

"I think- No, I _know_... I want you on my team."

"Kie? Froakie!" The Pokemon happily accepted the embrace of the trainer that had just chose him.

"From now on, I'm going to call you Gensuke." Sophia smiled to the small frog Pokemon.

"Sarah... Aren't you going to choose a partner, too?" Serena turned to the youngest of the group, who was looking unsure at the remaining two Pokemon.

"I... I really can't bring myself to do it." Sarah looked down at her feet.

"Why not?" Sophia curiously looked over her shoulder to her sister. "All you have with you is that egg from your Espeon and Umbreon, right?"

Sarah sighed and shook her head. "No... I actually brought five of my eeveelutions with me."

Serena and Sophia looked at Sarah, shocked.

"But I thought we agreed to only bring one, and your egg counted as one!" Sophia stood and put her hands on her hips.

"I just... I couldn't." Sarah looked down. "I just love them too much. I can't bring myself to train anything other than an eeveelution."

Alain walked over to Sarah and pat her head. "It's okay. Some trainers are like that."

Sarah froze, at the touch of the older man in front of her. She slowly looked up, meeting his eyes and swallowed hard.

Sophia snickered in the background, while Serena just looked on in confusion.

"Alain is right, Sarah." Serena stepped next to her sister and gave her a reassuring smile. "Besides, you have a great team as it is. I'm sure you'll do great."

"Uhuh..." Sarah slowly turned her face and looked at Serena. "C-can we go to the hotel now? Please?"

Serena blinked for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Sure...?"

The four of them went outside and said their goodbyes, Sophia was now extremely excited for her new Froakie. Serena gratefully thanked Alain for letting them in, while he promised that it really wasn't a problem. Sarah quickly scurried away the moment Alain looked to her to say his goodbyes, causing laughter to bubble from Sophia's chest. Serena just shrugged and tried to get in step with her youngest sister to tell her she was going in the wrong direction.

A few moments had passed, then Serena stopped the two for some answers.

"Okay, so what was that about?"

"I don't know what you mean." Sophia answered, while she was playing with the frubbles on her Froakie's neck.

"Sarah, you hardly spoke the whole time we were in there. I know you're introverted, but why did you act like you did towards Alain?" Serena folded her arms.

"You see... The thing is... I've always had a crush on him since we watched the Kalos League finals when we were little. I can't believe that was really him." Sarah groaned, almost as if she was pained. "It was like meeting a superstar that I've admired for so long. I just don't know how to process."

Serena laughed, now understanding what was so funny to Sophia. "Well, relax. Maybe next time, I can get him to give you an autograph."

"SERENA!" Sarah squeaked out, her face turning beat-red.

"Come on you two, there's another stop I wanna make before we find a place to eat."

* * *

"Man, that was so good." Ash sighed in content when he finished off his plate. Pikachu leaned against his arm, also stuffed.

"You can say that again. These Kalosians sure know how to cook." Gary agreed.

"Yeah, they do!" Ash smirked. "So, how about that battle?"

"And here I was thinking you almost forgot." Gary chuckled, getting up from his seat.

"Get real, Gary. You know me. I'm never going to keep my mind away from battling." Ash and Pikachu were both to their feet, both pumped up for the battle with his friend. "Let's go, I know where a good battling spot is."

A few moments after the two trainers had paid, they found themselves standing opposite from each other on a simple park battlefield.

"This place is where I first battled my good friend Clemont." Ash explained, eyes blazing with determination. "So let's make this battle a good one, okay Gary?"

"Alright, Ashy boy. You got it!"

Gary threw out a pokeball, releasing his Blastoise.

"Blastoise, huh? Then let's go Pikachu!" Ash pointed foward, and Pikachu eagerly ran out onto the battlefield.

"So, we're gonna use our starters, huh?" Gary smirked. "I thought as much."

"Less talking, more battling." Ash replied. "Pikachu, electroball!"

"Blastoise, rapid spin!"

The huge turtle-like Pokemon quickly withdrew into its shell and spun around, knocking back the ball of energy Pikachu had flung towards him.

"Alright, Blastoise! Use hydro pump!"

The Pokemon roared as it came from its shell and sent water flying towards Pikachu with immense pressure behind it.

"Pikachu, dodge it and use iron tail!"

"Pika!" The small mouse quickly obeyed Ash's commands.

"Ram into it with skull bash!" Gary countered.

Blastoise fought back, putting all of his weight into the skull bash that forced Pikachu back to the other side of the battlefield.

"You okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked, a bit shaken at Gary's skull bash idea.

"Pika! Pikapi pika!" Pikachu stood on all fours, even more determined to win.

"Okay, Blastoise, let's finish this!" Gary shouted. "Hydro cannon, now!"

"Dodge it and use thunderbolt!"

Pikachu jumped up to dodge the water and focused all of his energy into the thunderbolt. "Pikachuuuu!"

The two trainers shielded their eyes from the brightness of the attack, all that could be seen afterward was smoke.

"Did it hit?" Ash squinted his eyes, unable to tell the outcome of the battle.

* * *

" _This_ is a gym?" Sophia's eyes widened at the sight of the Lumiose Gym.

"Yeah." Serena nodded. "It looks to me that there's also a battle going on. Come on, let's go watch."

"Okay!"

The three girls quickly took the stairs to the observation balcony. Serena was pleasantly shocked with what they were met with.

"Okay, Dedenne! Use nuzzle!"

"Dodge it, Chespin!"

But the challenger's Chespin was too slow and was hit head on.

"Chespin is unable to battle, that means the win goes to Bonnie, the Lumiose City Gym Leader!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

"Bonnie! That was amazing!" Serena called out to the blonde girl on the battlefield.

"Serena?" Bonnie looked up and squealed with delight. "Serena!"

The three sisters quickly ran down to the battlefield staircase to the girl. Serena and Bonnie quickly embraced, not letting go for a long while.

Bonnie had grown up quite a bit. She was now fifteen, and had grown almost as tall as Serena. Her hair fell down in tight curls around her shoulders, and she had lost most of the baby fat around her face. She was truly growing up to be a beautiful woman.

Serena let go and turned around to introduce her sisters.

"Bonnie, this is-"

"I challenge you to a gym battle!" Sophia blurted out, startling the other three girls in the room.

"Oh great, another one." Bonnie shook her head. "I'm sorry but that was my last battle for the night."

"It's okay Bonnie." Serena sighed. "Sophia isn't ready for gym battles anyway. She's just excited because she just got a froakie from Alain."

Sophia groaned in disappointment.

"Anyway, what I was saying is that these are my younger sisters: Sarah and Sophia."

"Hello." Sarah waved shyly, while Sophia scoffed and looked away, sulking.

"Wow. I didn't know you had sisters!" Bonnie stared at the two young teens in awe.

"It's a long story." Serena explained. "A lot has happened since we last saw each other. You're the gym leader now? Where's Clemont?"

"He's probably still in his shop downstairs. Wanna go surprise him with me?" Bonnie smirked.

"Yeah, let's go." Serena giggled and followed Bonnie to Clemont's workshop.

The blonde burst right in, never getting a reaction from her brother who was pouring over his work on a metal slab.

"Clemont, that was the last battle for the night. Let's go out and get some food!" Bonnie loudly exclaimed.

"You can go on ahead, I need to finish this."

"Aww, that's rude to deny a request of your little sister like that." Serena spoke from behind him, startling the inventor.

"Serena!" Clemont quickly turned around and embraced the performer. "What are you doing here?"

"It's the golden question of the night." Serena giggled as she returned the embrace. "I'm on a family road trip, if that's what you wanna call it."

Serena introduced her sisters and explained the reasons for suddenly coming to Lumiose City. She also explained how she was doing this to refresh herself after living the life of a performer for so long.

"That's a great idea, Serena. Plus, it'll bring you three closer." Clemont said. "I know that after our journey together, it brought me and Bonnie so close."

"Too close if you ask me." Bonnie stated, giving her brother an annoyed look. "He treats me more like his child than a sister."

"That can get so annoying when older siblings do that." Sarah groaned. "It sucks being the youngest child. No one can take you seriously."

"Right?" Bonnie nodded, the two girls instantaneously hitting it off. "I mean, let me breathe once in a while. If I wanna go out on a date, I will."

Sarah deflated at the word "date". The thought of going out with the opposite sex freaked her out.

" _Alain_." She heard Sophia whisper in her ear where no one could hear her.

"SOPHIA!" Sarah flailed her arms. "HE'S TOO OLD FOR ME!"

"You still have a little drool on your face." The older girl smirked while flicking Sarah's forehead.

Serena shook her head at the two girls, knowing what Sophia was teasing their younger sister about.

"So, would you guys wanna go out and celebrate you being back?" Bonnie asked. "I haven't eaten since lunch, and Clemont hasn't eaten since... Well, let's just say he hasn't eaten in a while."

"Yeah, sure." Serena grinned. She was happy to be reunited with old friends.

* * *

"You know, you only won because you had the type advantage." Gary grumbled as he handed over his card to the front desk clerk at the hotel they had chosen to stay at.

"That's not true." Ash waved him off. "You and Blastoise have a strong enough bond to get past the whole 'electric beats water types' thing."

"It's not a thing, it's a fact." Gary rolled his eyes.

The two trainers got their key cards and made their way to their room. Ash abruptly stopped when he saw a flier taped to one of the bulletin boards for guests to check out events. It had a group of Pokemon performers, one of them that he immediately recognized as Serena.

"What are you lookin' at?" Gary asked, looking over his shoulder. "Hey, those girls look pretty hot."

"They still haven't updated that advertisement, I see." The concierge suddenly appeared and took the flier down.

"Didn't it say that they were touring? What happened?" Ash questioned.

"One of the performers dropped her performance from the listing. She announced that she wanted to take a break for a while and spend time with her family and friends to refresh herself." The man explained. "It's such a shame, too. She was Kalos Queen for five whole years in a row. She's a very talented performer, indeed."

"Hey, that sounds like the girl you were talking about before." Gary spoke up. "So maybe she won't be too busy for you to visit after all."

Ash swallowed hard. "Yeah, maybe not."

* * *

"You didn't have to walk us all the way to our hotel, you know." Serena smiled as they approached the huge building.

"It's not a problem. Pretty ladies like you three shouldn't be walking alone on the streets at night." Clemont said.

"And what does that make me?" Bonnie narrowed her eyes up to her brother.

"My sister." Clemont stated, flatly.

Sarah and Serena giggled, while Sophia's eyes suddenly narrowed at Bonnie.

"First thing tomorrow, I want to have a battle with you!"

"Sophia, I really don't think you and your froakie are ready. You just got him today, and the Lumiose Gym is a gym of electric types." Serena pulled her sister back.

"I still want to battle you tomorrow. I need to know how strong Gensuke is somehow." Sophia pouted.

"Then let's have practice matches in the park. You aren't ready for a gym battle." Serena tried reasoning with her.

"Fine." Sophia sulked.

"I'm sorry about that. Soph has always been vocal on what she wants." Sarah explained, shaking her head. "She's too impulsive for her own good sometimes."

"It's okay." Bonnie grinned. "When we traveled with a friend of ours, he was always impulsive when he really wanted to battle someone."

The blonde girl walked over to the red head who was being scolded by Serena. "I'll tell you what. I'll close the gym tomorrow so I can hang out with you guys and help you train. That way, you'll for sure be ready to battle a gym. It may not be mine, but it'll be a gym nonetheless!"

"Bonnie, are you sure you can do that?" Serena asked.

"I don't see why not. A lot of gym leaders close down their gyms every once in a while. Besides, I haven't seen you in forever Serena, and a single dinner isn't enough to catch up with."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Serena nodded. "Okay, then we'll meet you at the park battlefield across from Lumiose Tower tomorrow morning."

"You got it!" Bonnie grinned.

The two groups of siblings parted ways, agreeing on the exact time and location to meet the next morning. Sophia was so determined to prove that she was a strong trainer.

When they got their keys to their room, they got into the elevator. One of the guests that had come down to buy some snacks was waiting for the doors to open.

"Hello." Serena casually spoke when he glanced over to her. He almost dropped the junk food he was holding when he fully looked at her.

"Y-you're..." He stammered.

The three girls raised their eyebrows, giving the man identical looks of confusion at his actions.

The doors finally opened and the three girls came in. Serena held the door, waiting for the man to step in.

"Are you going up?" She asked, finally when the elevator started giving a steady beep, warning that the doors had been open for too long.

"N-no. I think I'll take the next one." He gave a slight wave, his mouth still agape.

The doors shut, and the three sisters looked at each other and just shrugged. Maybe he was just a star struck tourist?

* * *

"ASH!" Gary burst through their room's door. "WAKE YOUR ASS UP RIGHT NOW!"

Ash jumped up, immediately in a fighting stance, ready to beat up whoever was causing Gary to yell like he was.

"What? What's going on, Gary?"

"Th-that girl! I ran into that girl downstairs just now!"

"What girl?" Ash rubbed his eyes and gave out a huge yawn.

"That performer girl you told me you used to travel with. At least, I'm pretty sure it was her." Gary threw the junk food he had purchased down on to his bed and walked over to his friend.

Ash woke up a little more, after hearing what he was saying. "You mean Serena is staying in this hotel, too?"

"Yeah, but I don't know what floor or room."

"I would hope not." Ash shot Gary a look. "That's a little beyond stalkerish, don't you think."

"But if you knew, you could use the phone to call her room and get her to meet you downstairs or something!" Gary threw his hands in the air. "Come on, man! Think of the opportunities!"

"Gary, I haven't seen her in six years, I'm not going to just call her hotel room like a creep."

"What did you say her name was again?" Gary asked as he walked over to their room phone.

"Serena Yvonne... Why?"

Gary picked up the phone, causing Ash to panic.

"Gary no!" He wrestled his friend, trying to get the phone from him while he smooth talked with the person on the other line.

"Maybe you could do it for me?" Gary casually breathed out. "I mean, it's for a friend looking for love. But aren't we all?"

He smirked when the voice on the other line gave him the answer he was looking for. "Thank you my dear, I'll see you when you get off of your shift. Goodbye~"

Ash groaned when Gary hung up the phone. "What have you done?"

"Here you go." Gary handed Ash a piece of paper with Serena's name and room number scribbled on it.

 _417_

* * *

"Did that guy give you weird vibes?" Sophia asked as she brushed out her hair while Serena brushed Sarah's.

"I'm not worried. It happens all the time when people know your face." Serena shrugged, working a knot from her sister's honey locks.

"Maybe I don't want to perform then." Sarah sighed. "People freak me out."

"I was that way when I was little." Serena admitted. "But, then I met someone who showed me that people weren't that bad. Maybe that's why I fell for him like I did."

"It'll be a miracle if that happens to Sarah anytime soon." Sophia teased. "You saw how she acted in front of Alain today."

Sarah's ears turned red at the mention of her celebrity crush's name. "I already said that he's too old for me, so drop it."

"Come on." Sophia rolled her eyes as the phone began to ring. "What is he? Like Serena's age? Mom and Dad are nine years apart, and that's the same as you and Alain."

Serena shook her head, and turned to the bedside table to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

There was silence on the other end, then heated whispering.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

"Er. Is this Serena?"

Serena sighed, suddenly becoming annoyed. "Yes. What, did you get my room number from the front desk? Who is this?"

"It's me- Um. It's Ash."

Serena almost dropped the receiver. "Wh-what? How did you know I was staying here?"

"My friend ran into you downstairs a little while ago. He persuaded the girl at the desk to give him your room number. It wasn't my idea, I swear."

"I'm just glad it's someone I know and not some weirdo that would probably be waiting outside my door for it to open." Serena giggled. "It honestly wouldn't be the first time."

"So... Umm... Are you busy right now?"

"Not really, I'm just hanging out in the room with my sisters."

"Sisters?"

"Yeah, it's a long story." Serena explained.

"I've got time to listen, if you have time to talk?"

Serena's heart skipped a beat. "Like, right now?"

"How about ten minutes from now at the gazebo outside?"

"O-okay."

Serena hung up the phone and placed her hand on her racing heart. Her mind went to the time before her plane took off to Hoenn. The time that she finally worked the nerve to _kiss_ him.

She let out a frustrated groan, which caught the attention of her younger sisters.

"What's up?" Sofia asked, not having seen Serena like this before. To the two girls, she was always calm, cool, and collected. Now... She looked identical to Sarah when Alain had touched her head.

"Uhm... Well... It's nothing, really." Serena composed herself. "I'm going to go and meet someone in a few minutes. Don't wait up for me, okay?"

The two girls watched as Serena went to the bathroom to make herself presentable, then left without a word a few minutes after that. They shrugged to each other and continued their bickering.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

Ash turned to Gary as he hung up the receiver. He was having mixed emotions of either wanting to punch the smirking brunette or kiss him.

"Well?"

"We're going to meet outside at the gazebo in ten minutes."

"You need to put some pants on then, bro!" Gary exclaimed, running to their bags and starting to throw things at Ash.

In the end, Gary made him put on dark blue jeans with a black button down shirt. He purposely forced him to keep the first three buttons undone to show off some of his chest. He hid Ash's hat from him to force him to go out with his disheveled hair. According to him, he looked like what girls always said was "Sex on legs". It wasn't what Ash was going for, but Gary insisted.

"Well, come on buddy." Ash knelt down to let Pikachu jump on him, to which Gary intercepted and grabbed the Pokemon before he could get to his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gary scoffed. "You can't just show up with Pikachu here on your shoulder. You've gotta fly solo on this one, Ashy boy."

Ash groaned. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Dude, this is the girl you've been talking about for the last six years now. She _kissed_ you the last time you saw each other. Now it's your turn for payback. Never _ever_ leave things open like that."

Ash scratched the back of his head. "Yeah... I guess you have a point. You have more experience with girls than I do, that's for sure."

"See? Now, get your ass in gear and don't come back until you paid her back for leaving you with a last minute kiss." Gary said as he opened the door and pushed the trainer out.

A few minutes later he was sitting under the gazebo in the light of a few dim outdoor fixtures, with his hands in his pocket. There was a nice slight breeze to the air. A good night to be reunited with Serena, for sure.

Serena, on the other hand, had caught a glimpse of Ash from the hotel exit out to the gazebo. She had to talk herself up to even putting her hand on the latch to let her outside. She had no clue what she was doing this time at night, having a chance encounter with _him_.

Ash looked up at the sound of the door, making her legs move forward out into the open air. She swallowed hard when their eyes met each other.

Serena only had on a simple black dress with a light jacket covering her shoulders. Her hair was moving slightly with the breeze around them, and the light makeup she had on her face highlighted the pleasant features of her face.

"Hey." Ash breathed out, and slightly opened his arms for a hug.

Serena quickly ran to him and hugged him tight. "Hey."

They embraced for a few moments, and finally let go when they realized just how intimate they would probably look to anyone that passed by. It was a public area, after all.

"So... How have you been?" Serena asked, tucking some hair behind her ears.

"I've been great." Ash gave her a huge smile. "What about you? You said you had a long story for me to hear."

"Well... Where do you want me to begin?" Serena giggled as they sat down next to each other on one of the benches.

"I want to hear about everything." Ash answered. "Your time in Hoenn. The times you competed. Your family. I want to know it all."

Serena smiled and nodded. "Okay... Well, Hoenn was great. I spent almost a year there. It was so beautiful there, and I learned so much."

"I told you that you would like it there." Ash smirked.

"What was Alola like for you? Didn't you tell me you were going to a school there?" Serena asked.

"Oh, yeah! It was an awesome experience for sure!" Ash beamed. "I learned about these things called Z moves and there were all sorts of new Pokemon I had never seen before. There were even some that they called regional variations of Pokemon that we have in our regions that are totally different types."

"I know about them. I met a few when I went on tour in the Alola Region. I even caught a vulpix."

"Wow! That's so awesome! I can't wait to meet it."

"Speaking of Pokemon..." Serena began, looking around them. "Where's Pikachu?"

"Oh, he was already asleep when I called you. He's up in the room with my friend right now." Ash scratched the back of his head, nervously looking away.

"And you don't have a hat on, now." Serena giggled at his nervous tick. "You sure have grown up, haven't you Ash?"

"I wouldn't say I really have..." Ash laughed nervously. "I just forgot my hat tonight is all."

"I see." Serena smiled. "So how long will you been in Kalos for?"

Ash shrugged. "I'm not sure. I told my friend that I would bring him here to study the Pokemon, and introduce him to all of the people I met my first time here."

"Oh... Okay." Serena nodded.

"What about you? Someone said that you were taking a break from performing."

"Yeah. I decided that I needed to get back to my roots. My dad kind of helped me with that."

"About that, what's the deal with that? I thought your dad wasn't around."

"Well, you see, a few weeks after things settled down here and I had gone off to Hoenn, my mom called me and said that my dad had gotten in touch with her. She explained to me their relationship, and how he was. I was a little upset at first, that he would try to be a part of my life after so long, especially since he had a new family. Then I realized that there was no point in being angry with him. I took a step back and thought about what I really wanted. I decided that I was going to meet him when I came back for the holidays.

After I met him, I decided that I would meet him again the next time I came back to Kalos. I just took it one visit at a time until I was ready to meet his family. It turned out that they owned an eevee farm. It's such a fun and beautiful place. I'll have to take you there sometime."

The notion of meeting Serena's father kind of made Ash's throat dry. He had met her mother plenty of times before when he first came to Kalos, but he thought of the many stories of how dads were very protective of their daughters, and that actually shook him a little bit.

"That's cool. I'd like to see it, too. What was it like getting to go there for the first time?"

"It was awkward at first." Serena giggled. "He warned me that I had younger sisters that were six and seven at the time. He said that they were reserved for the most part, but it was a little harder for Sophia, the older one, to accept me."

"You said that you traveled to Lumiose with them, right?"

"Yeah." Serena nodded. "I took Sophia to get her starter Pokemon today, then we went to the Gym and met up with Bonnie and Clemont, ate dinner, and now we're here."

"So, they just started their first journey then? That must be exciting for them."

"Sophia is just ready to do some battling. She's been telling Bonnie that she challenges her to a Gym battle over and over everytime she sees her."

"Wait. _Bonnie_?" Ash stared at Serena with his mouth agape. " _Little_ Bonnie is the Gym Leader now?"

"Yeah, and she's pretty amazing. We only caught the end of a battle earlier, but her and Dedenne have both gotten pretty strong."

"Wow... I've missed a whole lot, haven't I?"

"Just a little bit. The things you couldn't see on TV, I guess." Serena giggled. "I never did get to thank you for writing to me after I won Kalos Queen the first time. I've just been so busy, I could never get your contact information."

"Oh... Yeah." Ash said, suddenly taking interest in the night sky and rubbing under his nose. He was trying to hide his blush. "It was no big deal, really."

The two sat in awkward silence for a while.

"Ash... I should really apologize to you." Serena finally spoke.

"Apologize?" Ash looked at her confused. "What for?"

"The way I left. It was really selfish of me to kiss and run like that." Serena felt her face heat up.

"N-no! It's okay." Ash scratched the back of his head. "It caught me off guard at first, but I really didn't mind it..." In fact, he really liked it. That's why he wasn't so flustered when she initially kissed him for the first time.

When he thought about it, however, he realized just how much he liked Serena the whole time they had been traveling together. It was different for him. Like she woke something in him. No other girl really gave him that feeling. Not even in Alola, which was also considered one of the most romantic places to be in the world. Many people chose to get married there or a reason, after all.

"You know... I really looked forward to seeing you when we decided to make the trip to Kalos." Ash admitted. "I did a lot of thinking for the last few years. I did a lot of living and yet, no matter the time I spent away, I always found myself thinking about my time spent here... About my time with you."

Serena's face heated up at his words. "What do you mean by that?"

"You see, Serena, the day we parted ways after you kissed me like that... I don't know. I just realized just how much I felt the same way about you." He slowly met her eyes, wondering how she was reacting to his confession. To his surprise, she had frozen with her face a dark shade of red. "Are you okay, Serena?"

"Y-yeah. It's just... I wasn't expecting you to say things like that outright."

Ash scratched the back of his head. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to kiss me outright, so I guess this would be considered payback."

Serena giggled. "Oh really? I would think that your kind of payback would be to kiss me when I didn't have a clue when-"

Ash cut her off with his lips and quickly pulled back, looking away from her with an equally red face as she had.

"You were going to get me back." Serena finished her sentence, her mind foggy at his actions.

"Ash... Do that again." Serena whispered after a few moments. She almost thought he didn't hear her until he turned fully to her and looked at her in the eyes before bringing his lips back down to hers for a longer kiss. This time, she had the chance to return the kiss rather than him pull away too quickly. _This_ was the kiss with Ash that she had always imagined. Not the first or second kisses that they shared, which had seemed to be mostly because of a hurried confession on Serena's part. If it weren't for the escalator taking her to the gate of her plane, though, she's sure it would have been much longer. Probably to the point that she really would have missed her flight. She probably would have gone to Pallet Town with him because of it. He _did_ offer for her to go with him after all.

Or was that just to hang out for the rest of that day? Only Ash could answer that, but it was also in the past.

This, though... _This_ was real and in the moment. Serena had no clue what to do except attack his lips with her own. It was like because they didn't have Pokemon with them to battle, the two trainers chose to battle with their mouths in their stead.

In a way, the clumsy way that Ash kissed her relieved Serena. The last few years they had spent apart left her wondering if he had ever kissed or been involved with anyone on his other journeys. His kisses answered all of her inner questions she ever had.

Ash on the other hand was having sensory overload. Serena smelled amazing, her skin was so soft, and he couldn't stop staring at her when they would break apart for air. His mind was completely blank. He was happy that Gary forced him to call her room and talk to her. He was ecstatic that she was allowing him to kiss her as freely as he was. It was as if it was fate that they were in Lumiose City at the same time for a reason. In the same hotel no less.

They finally stopped after Serena felt her lips begin to swell. She knew she couldn't go back into her room for her sisters to notice something like that. It wouldn't make her look like the responsible adult her father made her out to be when he and Mira entrusted her with their care.

"What's wrong?" Ash looked at her, confused. She had been so into what they were doing just a moment before.

"It's just... My sisters are a lot younger than I am. I should make sure that I don't go back to my room looking like I just had a heated make out session." Serena blushed.

"But you just did." Ash chuckled and smirked down at her.

"I wasn't expecting to..." The performer looked a little embarrassed. "I did enjoy it while it lasted, though."

Ash felt a little bubble of pride swell up in his chest. "Yeah, me too."

Serena looked down at her watch. It was nearing midnight at this point.

"What's up? Do you have a date or something?" Ash teased.

"It's not that." Serena playfully hit his shoulder. "It's just getting late, and I promised Bonnie that we would meet her after breakfast tomorrow so Sophia could do some training."

"It's so nice of you to teach them how to perform." Ash smiled in understanding.

"I'm teaching Sarah, my youngest sister, how to perform." Serena corrected his assumption. "Sophia wants to compete in the League."

That peaked Ash's interest. "In that case... Mind if Gary and I come watch? I'm sure that there will be Pokemon he'd like to see, and I haven't seen Bonnie in a long while."

"I would think that there was something wrong with you if you didn't ask." Serena giggled. "But sure, I'm positive Bonnie will be ecstatic to see your face tomorrow."

"In that case, how about we all meet for breakfast down here in the morning?" Ash offered. "I'll buy."

Serena laughed. "Very funny. You and I both know that it's free."

Ash shrugged and laughed at his own bad joke. "Either way, let's all have breakfast. You, me, Gary, and your sisters."

Serena nodded. "Okay, I'd like that."

The two got up from the bench and walked back inside to the elevators.

"So... About what just happened." Serena nervously tucked her hair behind her ear as they stepped into the elevator and pressed the buttons corresponding to the floors they were staying on. "It's just between us, right? I mean for now, at least."

Ash chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine with that. No one has to know."

"Okay." Serena smiled to herself and brought her hand to her lips. Ash removed it as the doors opened to his floor, and he stole another quick kiss and winked at her before leaving her side.

"I'll see you in the morning, Serena."

"Uhuh." She squeaked out, feeling her face heat up again.

 _That man is going to be the death of me one of these days._ Was all she could think as the doors closed and the elevator began to rise again.

* * *

The next morning, Serena and her sisters were each getting ready to go downstairs in their own respective sections of their room. Serena was in front of the vanity applying her makeup, Sophia was in the bathroom with her music turned up to full volume, and Sarah sat on one of the beds trying to do makeup similar to Serena.

Serena turned around and saw how uneven and messy Sarah had contoured her face, and tried to stifle a laugh. "Oh no, sweetie, come here."

Sarah sighed in defeat and pulled up one of the chairs from the desk to the vanity that Serena was at.

Serena took a wipe and cleaned all of the makeup off of her sister's face. "Why didn't you just ask for some help? You know I would have."

Serena grabbed a headband from her kit to hold Sarah's hair back. They both giggled when they looked at themselves in the mirror. The headbands they wore had skitty and delcaty ears on the top of them.

"First, you should always do this to keep your makeup and hair mixing with each other." Serena explained. "Even though your hair is light, it would still look all dirty and unpresentable."

"Oh..." Sarah nodded, hanging on every word of Serena's instructions.

"Then, you put primer on to help your makeup look more natural and stay longer on your face." Serena continued as she put a clear liquid on her sister's face. Once it dried, she put on the foundation and showed her how to properly contour. When they finished, Serena turned Sarah to look in the mirror. Her eyes widened when she saw just exactly how much she and her oldest sister really did look alike. Especially with similar makeup like they had.

"Looks a lot better now, huh?" Serena smiled and patted her sister on the back.

Sarah nodded and gave Serena a big smile. "Thank you."

When Sophia finally came out of the bathroom, she released a ton of steam through the door that fogged up the mirror of the vanity.

"Do you bathe with anything other than hot water?" Serena sighed, clearing some of the fog so she could finish her makeup.

"I like hot showers, kill me for it." Sophia stated sarcastically as she pulled her jeans on. "So, you said we were meeting a friend of yours for breakfast. Is that why you're caking on the beauty stuff today?"

Serena dropped her eyeliner and shot Sophia a look. "For your information, I normally do my makeup like this."

"She's getting all defensive, Sarbear." Sophia smirked. "Looks like I was right about last night."

"Right about what?" Serena narrowed her eyes.

"You met with a guy last night, didn't you?"

Serena swallowed hard. "He's just a friend. I promise."

"Okay, whatever you say~" Sophia teased as she pulled a purple t-shirt over hear head.

The three girls finished getting ready and went downstairs to the breakfast buffet where two men were hanging around the entryway.

"Serena, over here." Ash waved her and her sisters over to where he and Gary were standing.

Pikachu's ears perked up when he saw Serena come into the room. He raced over to her and jumped into her arms. "Pikaaa!"

"Hey there, Pikachu." Serena giggled and pet his ears. "Sorry, I hope you guys didn't wait for too long." Serena apologized as they approached. "Ash these are my sisters, Sophia and Sarah. Sophia and Sarah, this is a really good friend of mine, Ash."

The two girls were staring at the guy next to Ash however. "Stalker junk food guy." They spoke in unison as they pointed at Gary.

"Wh-what?" Gary's eyes widened. "Why would you call me that?"

"It's fitting." Ash stated with a laugh. "This is Gary. He and I grew up together in Pallet Town. He's studying to be a Pokemon professor."

"It's nice to meet you, Gary." Serena smiled, letting Pikachu go back to his place on Ash's shoulder.

"What do you guys say we grab a plate and dig in?" Ash suggested. "I've been trying to hold myself back all morning."

"Okay." Serena nodded and they all followed him through the buffet line.

Once seated, Ash told the group how he and Serena first met when they were younger. Sophia nudged Serena's arm as he spoke and gave her a knowing smirk, to which Serena replied with a hard kick.

Sophia glared at her in response, all the while the other three had not noticed the two sister's actions.

When they finished, the group made their way out of the hotel and walked to the park across from Lumiose Tower.

"So, what Pokemon did you decide on?" Ash asked the two girls as they walked.

"I chose a froakie that I named Gensuke." Sophia answered. "Sarah didn't want to choose one because she already has a full team, plus the egg she has in her backpack she's been so determined to hatch."

"I thought you were beginners." Ash looked to Sarah, surprised that she already had a full team.

"We are... But we grew up raising eevee and their evolutions." Sarah explained. "I brought my eeveelutions along with me. Well... Most of them, anyway."

"Is the egg an eevee egg?" Ash asked out of curiosity.

"Uhuh." Sarah nodded. "My Espeon and Umbreon made it, and I wanted to raise my first eevee completely on my own while we are traveling."

"That sounds awesome." Ash stated, awed by the thought of raising an egg that two of his own Pokemon made together.

"Mind if I take a look at it when we get to the park?" Gary asked. "I'm curious to see if the incubation process in Kalos varies from that of the other regions I've visited."

"Okay." Sarah nodded.

"So, how are you planning on training today, Sophia?" Serena asked her sister.

"Well, usually at home, I make my Pokemon fight with each other. Uriel is probably too strong to use against Gensuke, though." She sighed. "I was honestly hoping that you might have an idea."

"Well... My Vulpix is the least experienced Pokemon in my team, but I'm afraid that its not ready to fight yet." Serena sighed. "Maybe Bonnie brought some of her newer Pokemon with her."

"I hope so. If not, you're going to have to take me to get another Pokemon." Sophia sighed as she looked down at her froakie's pokeball.

"Have you ever caught a Pokemon on your own before?" Ash asked.

"No... They've always been given to me." Sophia admitted.

"Man, you don't know what you're missing then." Gary smirked. "The fun in getting Pokemon in the wild is the thrill of the battle!"

"I just feel bad that they would get suddenly attacked like that." Sarah frowned.

"I think it sounds pretty cool." Sophia grinned. "I can't wait to catch them on my own."

"Your sisters are polar opposites, aren't they?" Ash asked, looking to Serena who just nodded in response.

"There you guys are!" The cheerful Bonnie greeted as they made their way to the small battlefield in the middle of the park.

"You brought company?" She squinted her eyes and squealed when she realized who was with them. She bolted right to the taller man and hugged him tight. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know... I told you that we would see each other again soon." Ash beamed down at the blonde girl.

"Darn it! If only Clemont would have agreed to come along today." Bonnie sighed. "Oh well. He promised to eat lunch with us later."

"Then let's hurry up and get started, then!" Sophia exclaimed as she had already made her way to her end of the battlefield and released her froakie. They were both stretching in sync with each other, hyped for the training session with the young gym leader.

"She sure doesn't waste time, does she?" Bonnie sighed and stood in her zone.

"Okay, I'll be the referee." Ash eagerly offered and stood to the side with Pikachu.

Once everyone was in their spot to observe, Ash looked to the two girls who nodded that they were ready to begin.

"All right! This is going to be a one on one Pokemon battle. The first person's Pokemon to faint will declare the winner. Any questions?"

"Battle begin!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

"Let's go, Gensuke!" Sophia signaled her froakie to go out to the battlefield.

"Kie! Froakie!" It cried out as it got to the center.

"All right, Pachirisu, you're up!" Bonnie cheerfully threw out one of her pokeballs and released a white squirrel-like Pokemon with a blue line running vertically down the back of its body.

"Chipa!" The Pokemon cheered and stretched itself out.

"Alright, Sophia. Since you've been so persistent, I'll let you guys move first." Bonnie said, folding her arms and smirking at the girl.

"You'll regret your choice, Bonnie." Sophia cockily responded to the Gym Leader. "Gensuke, use bubble!"

"Froakie!" It cried out as it began to blow bubbles from its mouth towards its opponent.

"Okay, Pachirisu! Dodge and use charm!"

"Sophia doesn't have a chance does she?" Sarah looked to Serena as they sat to the side, watching with Gary.

"Not at all." Serena sighed, shaking her head. "She's way too cocky."

Sarah opened her bag and took out the egg she was carrying around with her. She had protected it using blankets and kept it warm with a pocket warmer. She took a spray bottle and began to clean it up.

"She only has always focused on battle ability. It takes her a while to really bond with her Pokemon." Sarah sighed as she wiped off the water from the egg, having become bored with her sister's battling style.

"Gensuke, use quick attack!" Sophia commanded, annoyed that Bonnie's Pachirisu lowered her Pokemon's attack stats.

Pachirisu took the attack like a champ and waited for Bonnie's next command.

"Show them what a real quick attack looks like!"

"Pa!" It nodded and ran towards the froakie. Sophia and the Pokemon had no time to respond with its speed.

"Let's end it while he's dazed!" Bonnie cheered. "Use spark!"

"Chi pachi!" The Pokemon built up its electric energy and released it as quick as it came.

"Oh no! Gensuke!" Sophia looked to her Pokemon that was completely unable to withstand its opponent's electrical power.

"Sophia's froakie is unable to battle! Bonnie is the winner!" Ash announced.

Sophia kicked the dirt at her feet and slowly walked over to the struggling Pokemon. "Alright, alright. We're not ready for battles yet, huh Gensuke?"

"Kie?" It squeaked out as its trainer picked him up and pulled a spray potion from her hoodie pocket. It sighed with content when the liquid hit its skin.

"Was that your first battle, Sophia?" Ash asked as him and Bonnie walked over to the duo.

"With Gensuke." Sophia mumbled, ashamed to admit.

"We grew up raising eevee, so of course we battled with them all the time." Sarah spoke from her seat on the bench next to the battlefield.

Sophia's head suddenly snapped up to Sarah. "Let's have a battle right now."

"Wait, what?" Sarah's eyes widened, shaken by her sister's sudden challenge.

"I want to prove that I'm not some noob when it comes to fighting. Battle me and Uriel, right now." Sophia's eyes were fueled with determination.

Sarah and Sophia stared each other down for a moment, until finally the younger one let out a long sigh and handed her egg over to Gary.

Sophia had returned Gensuke back into his pokeball, and was anxiously waiting for her sister to get to the opposite side of the battlefield.

"I'll ref this time." Bonnie announced before Ash could make the notion.

The three adults sat to the side, interested to see the more introverted trainer battle.

"Okay, you two. It's going to be another one on one battle. The first Pokemon to faint will declare the winner."

"Come on out, Uriel!" Sophia called out as she threw a pokeball.

A powerful looking umbreon appeared with a determined look on its face identical to its trainer.

Sarah swallowed hard and threw her own pokeball. "Okay Leif, let's go!"

An elegant leafeon appeared, looking around confused at its surroundings. When it spotted Sophia's umbreon, it narrowed its eyes and gave a low growl.

"Wow, they both look pretty strong." Ash noted when he compared the two Pokemon.

"I remember when they were still eevees." Serena said. "They've always had a rivalry against each other."

"Okay, you two. Battle begin!" Bonnie gave the signal to start.

"Razor leaf!"

"Protect!"

The two girls shouted their commands at the same time.

"Uriel, use toxic!"

"Leif, dodge and use x scissor!" Sarah skillfully countered.

"Wow, they wasted no time in using their weaknesses against each other." Gary spoke, impressed with the two trainers.

"Like I said... This has been an ongoing rivalry between the two since they hatched." Serena sighed. "They're going to go all out, even if it means playing dirty with their weaknesses."

"Dodge it and use confuse ray!"

The umbreon's attack hit, causing Sarah's companion to stumble.

"Are you okay, Leif?" Sarah called out in concern.

The leafeon shook its head and looked over its shoulder for Sarah's next command.

"Try razor leaf, again!"

The Pokemon stumbled a few more times then let out a clumsy cluster of leaves that damaged both of the Pokemon.

"Sophia's umbreon has a really strong confuse ray." Ash noted in awe as he saw the leafeon struggle.

"Uriel, use dark pulse!" Sophia countered the flying leaves.

The attack hit strong, bringing the leafeon fully to the ground struggling with its confusion.

"Leif, can you still go on?" Sarah looked to her Pokemon, concerned.

"Feon." It growled, eyes narrowed at its opponent.

"Okay... Use hyper beam."

"If the attack doesn't hit, it's done for. It has to rest after an attack like that." Serena looked concerned as she watched the leafeon build up its energy.

The Pokemon released an angry stream of energy from its mouth towards its opponent.

The attack hit full-force, causing Sophia's Pokemon's knees to buckle.

"Sarah and Sohpia are really equally matched here." Ash sat on the edge of his seat, waiting for one of the Pokemon to give in to the intensity of the attacks.

"You've got this, Uriel! It's weak, so use payback!"

"Breon!" It cried out as it finished off its opponent, then flopping on its butt from exhaustion.

"Sarah's leafeon is unable to battle, that makes Sophia and umbreon the winners!" Bonnie announced.

Sarah quickly ran over to the fainted Pokemon and splashed a little bit of fresh water on its face. "Thank you, Leif. You did your best out there."

The two trainers returned their Pokemon and walked back over to where the others had been watching.

"Wow, you two do know what you're doing for the most part." Ash commented. "With a little work, I think you'll be ready to take on gyms if you can get your team close to the same level as your umbreon."

"Do you really think so?" Sophia beamed.

"Yeah, for sure." Bonnie agreed with a smile.

"It just takes practice." Serena said, patting Sarah's shoulder. "I know you don't wanna battle, but sometimes battling will help you and your team grow stronger. Don't feel bad when someone asks for a battle with you, okay?"

Sarah nodded in understanding.

"Here you go." Gary offered Sarah's egg back to her, which she gladly took, affectionately wiping a little bit of dirt off.

"So... What now?" Sophia asked.

"I know!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Since we're doing this to show you some pointers on how to get strong enough to battle gyms, Ash should battle someone next."

"Wait? Me?" Ash blinked for a moment, then smirked. "Sure! I'm in!"

"Serena, why don't you show Ash a thing or two?" Bonnie winked.

"Why me?" Serena's eyes widened.

"You weren't Kalos Queen for nothing, right?" Bonnie smirked. "I'm sure he's eager to see just how strong you've gotten."

"Yeah, Serena." Ash taunted along with the blonde. "Unless you're admitting that performers can't battle."

"That's not fair! You know I'm great with my Pokemon." Serena's eyes narrowed.

"Then prove it."

Sarah and Sophia sat to the side, snickering at the arguing trainers.

"Please, Serena. We've only seen you perform before." Sophia added to the fire, as she nudged Sarah to follow.

"Yeah. You did say not to feel bad when someone asks for a battle." Sarah reminded her oldest sister. "So, don't back down, kay?"

Serena sighed. "Fine, Ketchum. You're on."

"Alright, since you two are much more experienced and have more than one Pokemon, let's make this a two on two battle." Bonnie said as the three of them took their places on the battlefield. "You know the rules. Ready?"

"Yeah." The two trainers nodded, looking extremely determined to win against their opponent.

"Begin!"

"Alright, Pikachu and Decidueye! I choose you two!" Ash called out his Pokemon.

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu squealed as he and the bird-archer came out to the battlefield.

"Okay, Absol and Delphox, let's show Ash just how strong we really are!"

"Phox~" Delphox sang as she brought out her stick, twirling it like a baton.

"Sol absol." The white majestic Pokemon narrowed its eyes, sizing up his opponents.

"Wow, so Braixen evolved, huh?" Ash raised his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.

"What do you expect?" Serena smirked. "She is one of the strongest members of my party, after all. She wasn't going to stay in her secondary evolution state for forever."

Ash smirked. "Yeah, I guess not. So, let's get this started. Ladies first, _your majesty_."

He knew what buttons he was pressing by saying the last part in such a teasing manner.

"Alright, fine then." Serena pointed forward to her Pokemon. "Delphox, use fire spin! Absol, use psycho cut!"

"Decidueye, use protect! Pikachu, fire back with thunderbolt!" Ash countered Serena's moves.

"You two, split up to dodge!" Serena commanded, to which the Pokemon swiftly responded with elegance. "Absol, use ice beam on Decidueye! Delphox, mystical fire!"

The ice beam was too fast for Ash to warn his Pokemon, and hit dead on its target. Pikachu's speed, however, allowed him to barely be missed by Delphox's attack.

"You good, Decidueye?" Ash called out to the bird.

It shook off the attack, then looked over its shoulder to Ash with pure determination.

"Alright!" Ash smirked. "Fly up and use brave bird!"

The Pokemon nodded and instantly obeyed its trainer.

"Pikachu, use wild charge on Delphox!"

"Pika!" It cried out as it ran towards the fire-type.

"Delphox, use fire blast while he can't escape!" Serena ordered. Before she could get Absol to counter Decidueye, however, the Pokemon came down and hit him hard.

"Oh no! Absol!" Serena's eyes widened.

"Absol is unable to battle!" Bonnie declared.

Serena returned the Pokemon to its pokeball and narrowed her eyes at Ash. "You better enjoy it while it lasts, Ash. Me and Delphox won't let you win."

"Yeah, we'll see about that Serena." Ash smirked. "Let's make it more interesting, though. Raise the stakes."

"What do you mean?" Serena looked to her opponent with a puzzled look.

"If you win, what do you want out of it?"

"Well- I- What?"

"Yeah, name your prize."

"Well, if I win, you have to take me and my sisters shopping and carry everything we get." Serena smirked, happy with her decision.

"Okay. If I win, I get to steal you for the night. I think that sounds fair." Ash smirked, getting a great reaction out of the girl.

"W-wait a minute!" Serena's face turned pink.

"Okay, let's go Pikachu. Use electroball! Decidueye, leafage!"

"Delphox, use dazzling gleam!"

Everyone shielded their eyes from the attack, unable to see the outcome until everything subsided.

"Woah." Sophia stared on in awe.

"She wasn't playing around, that's for sure." Gary spoke, just as startled by the intensity of the attack.

"But who... Who won?" Sarah asked, as the dust settled on the field.

All three Pokemon were unable to battle.

* * *

The group of trainers found themselves having lunch outside of the Pokemon Center they had brought their Pokemon to.

Serena was inside, however, talking with Nurse Joy.

"I still can't believe the battle ended in a draw." Ash pouted.

"Oh, cheer up, Ashy boy." Gary snickered as he took a bite of his sandwich. "You win some, and you lose some."

"Just what did you expect?" Sophia giggled. "Making Serena flustered like that is a big no no. It's like her brain stops working and she just calls out whatever attack she knows is going to hit hard."

"Yup, that's our Serena." Bonnie laughed.

"What did Ash say to her anyway?" Clemont asked, having been in his workshop all morning.

"Ash said he was going to steal her for the night if he won." Bonnie answered, causing Clemont to choke on his food. "What a bold move, right?"

"You were the one that she met up with last night, weren't you?" Sophia suddenly asked.

"Well, I-"

"Your face says it all, anyway." Sophia interrupted before he could explain. "Look, me and Sarah may be younger than you guys, but we aren't sheltered. At least _I'm_ not, anyway."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at her older sister. "I just choose to stay oblivious, and you know it!"

"Yeah, yeah." Sophia snickered. "I've seen some of the stuff you read."

"SOPHIA!" Sarah squeaked out, causing everyone to start laughing.

"Man, you really do remind me of Serena when we first met." Ash chuckled as he pat Sarah on the head.

"Sorry it took me so long, guys." Serena said, walking outside and placing herself between her two sisters. "What were you guys talking about?"

"How you and Ash met up with each other last night." Sophia flatly answered. "So, you two. What happened? Serena was gone for quite a while."

Ash and Serena's face reddened at the question.

"We just talked. And _nothing else_." Serena narrowed her eyes at Sophia.

Sophia puffed her cheeks out, disappointed that Serena refused to sing like the little pidgey she wished for her older sister to be.

"So, aside from that. What are your plans now, Serena?" Clemont asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

"I was thinking about taking the girls to Santalune City." Serena answered. "There's going to be a show there that I think Sarah will benefit from, and maybe Sophia will be ready to take on Viola by then. Hopefully if she can catch more Pokemon and teach them right."

The two girls looked hopeful to their sister.

Sarah loved to see performances. The only time that she had ever seen live performances, though, was when Serena competed in the Master Class rounds. Serena always told her how tours were for fun and not competition, and that made her excited to watch the show that would be in Santalune City.

Sophia pulled out her Pokedex that Alain had given her in all of the confusion that happened the day before. She eagerly scrolled through the list of Pokemon that they could encounter on their way.

"I'm all for it!" She excitedly exclaimed with a huge grin on her face. "Let's go ASAP!"

"You know... Why don't we join them, Ashy boy?" Gary proposed. "We don't really have a set place we need to be, and those performances sound really _interesting_."

Ash rolled his eyes, knowing that the only reason Gary said anything about the performances were so he could possibly get some action from the performers. Ash knew that they were well out of Gary's league.

"It would be a lot safer." Sarah spoke up. "I mean I trust our Pokemon and Serena to keep us safe, but I think having two decent sized guys with us would keep all the hostile Pokemon and weirdos away."

"See, the girl has a point." Gary smirked, as he put his arm around Ash's shoulder. "So what do ya say?"

"If Serena's okay with it, I don't mind." Ash answered, making eye contact with the performer.

"Y-yes!" She tried not to sound too eager for the duo to join them.

"Aww. I wish that we could go." Bonnie sighed. "It would almost be just like old times."

"Bonnie, I know it sucks, but we both have jobs here that we have to do. I can't just go around making robots to do our jobs while we go around having fun anymore. I don't want a repeat of the Clembot incident.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." Bonnie looked down, disappointed.

"So let's leave tomorrow morning, bright and early." Sophia said, to which she earned a groan out of her other companions.

"How about after lunch time? That way you two can get used to camping outside at night." Serena suggested, making her sister's nose wrinkle at the thought.

"I wanted to get there as soon as possible." Sophia groaned. "That's not fair, Serena."

"Actually, it is. Not all of us can wake up at the crack of dawn like you can, Soph."

Sophia rolled her eyes and finished her food. "I'm going to check on my Pokemon."

"She's really something else, isn't she?" Ash chuckled as everyone watched her walk away to go sulk.

"She's the whole reason that we're traveling." Serena admitted. "She and my stepmom butt heads like crazy. Her and my dad only agreed to let them travel because I offered to take them."

"I'm glad that they did." Ash beamed. "Who knows what would have happened if they didn't. We probably wouldn't have been able to see each other."

"Yeah, you're right." Clemont nodded and chuckled and held up his water bottle as if to toast. "To hard-headed sisters, am I right?"

"Hey, I'm not hard-headed!" Bonnie puffed her cheeks out.

"Get real, Bonnie. You're as hard-headed as they come."

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

The two siblings continued to argue, causing the others to laugh. It really gave a feeling of nostalgia in the air for the trainers that used to travel together. It was great to be together again.


End file.
